The Sentry of the Rose
by brindle2
Summary: A few chapters to explore what happened between the Beast's transformation and the movie's final ballroom scene. We will discuss: how did Belle and Maurice land in that little town? Doesn't Adam have any relatives? What does a post-French-Revolution nobleman do with himself anyway? And... Is Gaston really dead? Rated T out of an overabundance of caution.
1. Chapter 1

Amid the embraces, laughter, and dancing on the tower with rediscovered arms, legs, and faces, Cogsworth drew himself up to his full five feet and one inch for the first time in a decade and proclaimed, "This instant! We must prepare a feast for our master!"

"No, a feast for ALL!" corrected their newly human master, to great cheers, save for Cogsworth, who groaned, "Well, first, sir, if you insist on making this semi-public, you need at least a decent dressing gown over those rags, I must locate one..." He jogged off , distractedly creating a to-do list.

All the servants ran to their posts, energized by the prospect of a celebration. Belle began to drag Beast (who no longer looked at all beastly) inside. "We must find Papa too, oh, he'll be so excited!"

He grinned and suddenly stopped. "Yes!... uh, actually... well..."

"Come on, he's seen everything change round him, he must be wondering, and he'll be very happy to meet you!"

"But... that's just it! He HAS met me! And I threw him in a dungeon for three days to mark the occasion."

"Oh, things were very different then. I told him all about you; he came here with me to help you, after all!"

"Still, we should do this maybe a little more slowly?"

"Are you afraid of him? Because..."

"Afraid! I'm not afraid! Afraid!" He crossed his arms and scowled fiercely.

"You'll see, he's really quite understanding and... open-minded," said Belle soothingly. But in her mind she regarded his pout with a silent laugh and joyously thought "It really, truly IS him!" She smiled and pulled her love into the tower and down the stair.


	2. Chapter 2

The base of the six-storey tower on the north corner of the chateau, three stories below the drawbridge, was surrounded by jagged boulders left over from the building's construction a hundred years previous. A broken body sprawled across the rocks, in contrast to the songs of the birds, frogs, and insects serenading the sudden arrival of spring. Little light filtered down to that spot, yet just a few feet away there was a shimmer and glow in the greenery. Tendrils of light emanated from the glow and curled round the body, picking it up, slowly and tentatively moving it about, and then suddenly enveloping it completely for a good two minutes, as though the light was working on a complex task. Finally, the beams heavily released the body to the ground just away from the boulders. But in the place of the grievously injured man was a large wolf.

The tendrils retreated back in to the glow, which gathered and shaped itself into a colorfully robed and very weary Enchantress. "Get up, Gaston," she commanded.

The wolf rubbed his head with his paw and uncertainly pulled himself up to a sitting position. He blinked and stared at his forepaws, and started to breathe fast. "What in the HELL has happened to my fingers?... Where are my... Why ... No... NOOOO!" He shocked himself with a howl and his cry diminished to a whimper.

"You must listen to me, Gaston." Gaston the wolf turned and yelped at the sight of the Enchantress. "Today you returned vengeance for mercy."

"I couldn't very well leave Belle in the clutches of that monster!" Gaston stammered. He realized the noises coming out of his throat were nothing resembling French or any other human tongue.

"Belle knew her mind. Were you fearful for Belle or angry for your loss?"

"She would have been better off without... or really, with... Did you SEE him?"

"Indeed, I am responsible for the enchantment that turned a selfish young man into a beast, that he might one day learn to be truly human. I only wish I could do the same for you."

"WHAT?" Gaston snarled. " You mean you helped that THING and you can't help me? Why not?"

"Your need of magic assistance was greater, it is true. Adam's crime was of neglect; yours of active destruction. I would have liked to properly enchant you , since enchantments can be broken, but you were too badly injured and too close to death. To save your life I needed to act quickly, to fully transform you. This will be your form for the rest of your life."

"This!" snorted Gaston with contempt. "I'm some kind of dog or..."

"Wolf," corrected the Enchantress.

"Only a slight improvement over dog!" Gaston snapped. The Enchantress sighed as he began to pace angrily. "You'd have done better to let me die!"

"And would you have done better to take the burden of your actions to your Maker?" Gaston stopped in his tracks and stared at her. "Even an enchantress has limits, Gaston. I have only been able to buy you time. What you do with the rest of the life you have is up to you. I will watch over you the best I can, but from here on you must save yourself. Think about what has gone before and what is to come." The air around the Enchantress began to shimmer. "It will be hard, but you have what you need to succeed." The Enchantress was rapidly fading from view. "Heaven bless you, Gaston, and use your blessings well."

And Gaston was alone in the woods by the chateau, still seething, growling, "This is what you call a blessing, witch?" He worked very hard to quiet the part of his mind that started to consider that she may be right.


	3. Chapter 3

Maurice knew he was in a venue actively under a magic spell, but he was still impressed with the the sudden, well, jollification of the building. All of the walls were suddenly whitewashed, sunlight poured in the windows, and he was knocked halfway down the stairway by a fresh new carpet unfurling beneath his feet.

Splitting up to find the tower entrance seemed like a good idea when he and Belle arrived at the chateau. Now Maurice wished he had that clever mirror to find Belle. He was sure the changes were a good omen, and he wanted to reassure her.

He started to look for her but was distracted by an interesting candelabra on a windowsill. There were no candles in it, but as a scientist he could see that the heat from the flames was meant to turn a finned wheel at the top of the construction that would animate a little carved and painted scene of, let's see... oh, dear... of a shirtless youth chasing a maid wearing only a shift chasing a shirtless youth chasing a maid wearing only a shift chasing round and round... Maurice blushed and looked for less suggestive scientific curiosities.

"Papa! Are you here?"

Maurice looked round. "Belle, are you all right? The most curious things have just happened!"

Belle ran round the corner towing a young man who looked like he'd been in a fight (of course they all had). Maurice guessed from the fellow's strong brow, wide eyes, and prominent nose that the Beast may have been run over by the recent jollification as well.

"Yes, and everything is going to be all right now! I'd like you to meet... Well, I can't call you Beast anymore, it doesn't quite fit!"

The young man finally broke into a smile. "I suppose not." He bowed to Maurice. "Adam Saint-Lazare, Vicomte de Boisvert, at your service, Monsieur." And then he straightened, looked off a bit astonished, and at the top of his lungs shouted, "I AM ADAM DE BOISVERT!... I haven't been able to say my own name for ten years!"

"Well, my lord, may I say how happy I am for you that things have resolved for the good for you." Maurice reached out his hand to shake Adam's.

Adam's giddiness evaporated as he took Maurice's hand. "Monsieur, I wish to apologize deeply for the terrible way I treated you at our meeting last autumn. Instead of offering hospitality I only looked for someone to blame for my ills."

"Oh, that's quite all right, you weren't yourself!" Maurice winked.

Adam turned away, ashamed. "That's just it. Maybe I was. Outwardly, I am changed. Inwardly, I like to think I am wiser, but I don't feel that different."

"Oh, don't worry, you are!" Belle put her hand on Adam's arm and looked earnestly in his eyes. "I've seen it, clear as day, over the last few months. The Beast I met in the autumn would never have tried new things, let me go find Papa, shown mercy to Gaston, even..."

"Gaston?" Adam was puzzled for a moment but put the pieces together rapidly. "Who is... the man on the roof... and then he struck me again... did I hear him fall...?" Adam's stare wandered from Belle. He seemed to be wrestling with an idea. Then with determination he wheeled round and called out, "Lumiere! Lumiere! I need your help!" He spun back to Belle and Maurice. "He left the mirror in my parlor. I don't know if it will work any more, but let's bring it. He must be near the bottom of the north tower. We need to find him and see what we can do. He may very well be beyond help, but we should take the chance."

Lumiere had arrived well before Adam was finished speaking. "But Master, he fell quite a long way down from the top of the tower, and after all, he nearly succeeded in killing you."

"Adam the beast would let matters take their course. Adam the man will do his best to repair. Quickly now!"

"Quickly is my forte!" Lumiere called, dashing down the hall toward the north tower, with Belle and Maurice struggling to keep up.

Adam hung back a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, on the windowsill, he had seen that blasted bawdy carousel full of carousers one of his old drinking companions had brought him from Germany. A fine thing to be seen by one's sweetheart's father! Cringing, hoping Maurice had missed it, he opened the sash and tipped the carousel out the window. Only when he was reassured by the splintering sound in the courtyard did he turn and run after Lumiere and the others.


	4. Chapter 4

What Gaston really wanted right now was a beer. What he would have preferred was a keg of beer, enough to give him a good night's sleep on the off chance that he could awake and find this was all a dream. He thought of LeFou. That idiot was certainly pliant enough that Gaston could find a way to get through to him about his real identity, and maybe get back into his tavern. He climbed the embankment to see how the fight was going. The Enchantress implied that the Beast... what did she call him, Adam?... had lived, but maybe one of Gaston's men had since finished him off.

Gaston hauled himself up over the ledge on the forest side of the drawbridge and saw absolutely no one. He heard nothing except more wretched birds. He looked at the chateau and wondered if it was a trick of the light that it looked a lot less dingy now.

The path was littered with tracks so obvious that an apprentice shepherd could follow them. Gaston had always been an excellent tracker, and now with a wolf's sense of hearing and smell it was so easy it was almost unfair. He wondered if they had looted the chateau and left, but the disarray and the running gaits concerned him. He sprinted down the path, finding he could sprint for quite a long time, until the path went past the edge of a cliff.

Gaston climbed out to the cliff and peered down. There was town in the distance, and there at the foot of the mountain, just at the entrance to the forest, were Gaston's men, sure enough running for home like a bear was pursuing them. "Cowards," snarled Gaston. "I was the one who faced the Beast. Maybe I should go after them like this; it would serve them right." But his stomach started to growl and he considered that he had eaten nothing since dinner the previous evening. "Time for a hunt!" The idea of hunting as a wolf at once seemed appealing. "Let's see what this creature can do!"

There was an odd lack of animals around. Gaston had hoped to find a deer, but after an hour when he picked up the scent of rabbit, he was willing to settle. It took another half hour to find the rabbit, who was obviously better rested and better fed than he, and another quarter hour to finally run it down and break its neck. But he was prouder of this catch than any trophy hanging on the wall in his tavern.

As the sun set and the forest once again cloaked itself in darkness, Gaston lay down before the carcass to enjoy the meal. His pride distracted him from the scent of wolf rapidly growing nearer, until the scent barged into his mouth as he prepared to take his first bite. He coughed and looked up to see a dozen yellow eyes in the darkness, fixed on him.

"Well well well," growled a pair of eyes. "Looky here. New guy."


	5. Chapter 5

On the fourth blow, the unused door at the base of the tower finally opened part way. Adam and his companions squeezed out into the boulder field and scattered about, searching for Gaston. Belle hung back a bit and finally said, "If he is alive when we find him, I don't know what I'll do. You may have to hold me back to keep me from killing him."

"Aha!" said Adam, "Now who's nervous about a meeting?"

"It's completely different!" retorted Belle.

"Awkward for different reasons but still awkward!" countered Adam.

"Ah, the magnificent variety of human interaction!" cut in Lumiere VERY loudly. "So full of unpredictability, wonder, mystery! And speaking of mysteries, let us concentrate on finding the man we seek, please!"

Adam sighed. "It's a shame the mirror doesn't work any more."

Maurice stopped and looked at Adam severely. "Really! Are you certain?"

"Papa, you saw yourself," said Belle, "Adam asked to see Gaston three times and nothing happened."

Maurice put his hands on his hips. "Youngsters! Think! All that tells us is that the mirror can't show us Gaston! Nothing about why! Perhaps the mirror is no longer enchanted OR it cannot show us the deceased OR the enchantment has somehow changed OR any number of things. Now Belle, what do we construct from an observation?"

Belle sighed and smiled a bit. "A hypothesis."

"And what do we do with the hypothesis?"

Belle had caught up with Maurice and was starting to work ahead. "We test it."

"And with the results of the test we..." led Maurice.

"...Make more observations, revise the hypothesis, and so on!"

"It appears, my dear, that you are formulating a hypothesis."

"... That we cannot see Gaston, but perhaps we can see other people in the mirror!"

"Brava!"

"May I, Adam?"

"Sure." Adam, still a step or two behind in the process, handed Belle the mirror.

Belle raised the mirror and looked at her own reflection. "Mirror! Please show me... LeFou!" Her image immediately faded.

"LeWho?" said Lumiere as the mirror glowed.

"Gaston's best friend... or henchman... or servant, really, whether he knew it or not."

The image reformed at the crossroads where the road went into the forest and up the mountain. The four crowded around the mirror to see LeFou and Charbon the blacksmith, both men of substantial girth, jogging out of the forest. "Ah, HIM," sniffed Lumiere.

"Hey, slow down, LeFou, I don't think there's anyone- (gasp) anyTHING behind us," panted Charbon.

"You make sure and let me know!" LeFou continued jogging.

"Come on, I swear it!" LeFou slowed to a walk. Charbon caught up. "Where's Gaston?"

"Dunno and I don't care! (gasp) Clever all right! So damn clever (puff) he gets me to do his dirty work! (wheeze) That's it, that's it! (hack) Next time I see him I tell him (gasp) to find another friend to get in trouble. (koff) Done, I tell you! (whoo)"

"Fine, I'll be interested to see if you go through with that."

LeFou growled, took a swing at the much taller Charbon, missed by a mile, spun about, and landed on his face, swearing. Charbon helped him up. "Come on, I've got a key to Gaston's tavern. He owes us a couple drinks. We'll wait for him there."

Belle angled the mirror down and the image disappeared. She carefully placed it on a flat boulder.

Maurice was the teacher of yore again. "And now, my children, what have we learned?"

"That the mirror works," offered Adam.

"That Gaston is neither here nor with LeFou," added Belle.

"That it is a useful thing to be able to run at least two miles without stopping," posited Lumiere.

"Good, although a bit off topic on the last one. Hypotheses about Gaston?"

"He died and his body was carried off by the wolves?" shuddered Belle.

Lumiere was incredulous. "Up this bank? In less than an hour?"

"He survived and wandered off?" asked Adam.

"Also unlikely and also not impossible," observed Maurice. "We have all seen, and been a part of," (here he bowed to Adam and Lumiere) "some wonders of late. Now if the mirror works, that means there is still some enchantment about. Also, if the mirror works, it would have detected the live Gaston. So, either Gaston is indeed deceased, or..." He stopped and looked expectantly at his pupils.

"Or! Or what?" cried Adam.

"Or what? Or what, Monsieur Beast, Monsieur Candelabra?" Maurice hinted.

Adam was wondering whether to be insulted that Maurice called him Beast when it hit him. "Or... Gaston could have taken on another form!" Maurice's broad grin told him he was correct.

"Well done, cher Professeur!"

They all jumped and looked toward the mirror, where the voice seemed to come from. It was wildly glowing in many colors. Adam and Lumiere recognized the voice. Adam scrambled over the rocks and picked up the mirror. The face of the Enchantress was in the glass. "Gaston lives, but he is no longer the man you know as Gaston. He is well, and you must not try to find him. Do you understand?"

The others had crowded round. Belle said, "Who is that?" But when Adam responded to the mirror with a somewhat awed "Yes, my lady," she held her tongue.

The Enchantress continued. "We all know what he has done, and what the result was. Saving his life was very difficult, and had certain... implications, but it worked. He now faces the task of making amends, which will occupy the rest of his life. Perhaps your paths will cross." She smiled. "Maybe it's not a bad thing to approach everyone as someone working on a penance, it may make you more tender to them." Adam blushed at the reference to his temper. "I think now that I may go on a little holiday, not too far or too long, mind you, but to give myself a rest and you all a chance to get back to normal. The mirror, however, will remain enchanted for you... and your heirs." She smiled slyly at Belle, who also blushed. "Use it intelligently." The glass gave off a blinding flash to reveal the reflection of four dumbstruck faces staring into it.

"Never mind," said Belle quietly, "I figured out who she is."

They all turned silently back to the chateau, Adam and Belle holding each other closely.


	6. Chapter 6

Gaston stood up and looked at the eyes glowing in the gloom. "Good evening." He knew the importance of not showing fear, but felt his heart pound so hard he worried they could hear it.

"New guy says good evening," said one of the pairs of eyes.

"Oh it is, it is!" A very large and scarred-up old wolf stepped forward. "New guy's brought us a snack!" He eyed Gaston's rabbit.

"Well, that one's mine, but I'd be happy..."

The other wolves stepped forward.

"Sorry, I thought you said that was yours." The big grizzled wolf was barely a foot from Gaston. "You caught it where?"

"Up there by the rotting stump"

"By the rotting stump!" echoed the smallest wolf, and made a very unpleasant approximation of a laugh, even for a wolf.

Grizzle looked up the hill. "Yep, definitely pack territory, and therefore, property of the pack." While he held Gaston's gaze with his eyes, his front paw neatly flipped the rabbit behind him into the midst of the other wolves who were ready to tear it up. "DON'T... " The pack froze. "... touch it 'til I say so." He'd never even turned around. He paced all the way around Gaston, who continued to hold his head high and return their stares (no choice, really). "Can't help but think you look familiar."

"He looks like Legbone, that loner we chased off yesterday," volunteered one wolf.

"Yeah, but he's taller, and a lot less hang-dog," said another.

"And he's got that big dark smudge on his haunch," said a third.

Gaston quickly glanced behind him. His fur was light-colored, but there was some sort of black marking on his right hip. He did not dwell on it, though, because he didn't feel safe diverting his attention from the pack.

"Sit in something by mistake?" laughed the short wolf. The others chimed in.

"Or roll in something nice and smelly?"

"Like a puppy?"

"Pretty big puppy, you ask me." More ugly laughter.

Gaston started to tremble despite himself. Grizzle grinned. "Now listen here, PUP." He barked right in Gaston's ear. "Not sure what kind of manners they taught you where you're from, but around here you don't go stealing prey from another pack's land. And don't try any of that attitude thing. We've schooled bigger and better than you on that. Men! Bears! Eagles!"

"And that fat ugly Beast!" yapped Shorty. "'Til last autumn, anyway, don't know what finally gave him the... gumption..."

The other wolves had been hissing at Shorty to shut up. Grizzle's full attention was now on him. He cowered as Grizzle walked toward him.

"We will not discuss him until I say so," Grizzle snarled. "He killed my best lieutenant and my eldest daughter in that fight, so the right to discuss that is mine... alone."

"Do you want revenge?" Gaston asked casually.

Grizzle looked back at him. "You're treading on thin ice, pup."

"I've met the Beast. I've... studied him. I know where he lives. He has weaknesses. I think I could be of use to you."

"We've all met him. I MIGHT be interested if you come back, say, tomorrow, with something helpful instead of a lot of bragging. That is what gets rewarded here." Grizzle strode over to the rabbit, bit a morsel out of the hindquarter, then neatly tore it apart, distributing the bits to the pack... except Shorty.

"Boss? I didn't get anything to eat yesterday either."

"That's 'cause you were stupid yesterday too!" Grizzle boxed Shorty's face, sending him tumbling. Then he looked at Gaston, who was obviously drooling. "You want food around here, you earn it, so give me results, pup, or SHOVE OFF!" He leapt onto Gaston and snapped at his shoulder.

Gaston was caught completely off guard and rolled down the hill. He got up, saw the five wolves assembled against him on the knoll, with Shorty peering quizzically from behind, and tore off toward the chateau.


	7. Chapter 7

Adam suggested that they retreat to the parlor to talk. On the way, Cogsworth found them, bundled Adam into a silk dressing gown, dragged a comb through his hair, and tied the hair back with a thin black ribbon. "You have guests, and you are... left arm, please!... going to be the host of a...ooooffeast... so... do stand still sir, please!... you need to look... presentable!" He stood back in triumph at the minor feat. Adam glared at him, but he nudged back and quietly motioned to Belle, who was staring in appreciation despite herself. "At your service, sir." He turned away down the hall and bellowed, "LINENS! You are LATE!" on his way to the dining room.

When they reached the parlor, they found, as always, only one chair.

Adam squirmed. "Oh. Sorry. Uh, maybe we can..."

"Never fear, Master Adam, I have just the remedy!" proclaimed Lumiere. "Chip, my strong young man, put down those tablecloths and give me a hand!" The man and the boy disappeared around the corner and trotted back into view in just a few seconds, carrying a short, light couch between them. They placed the couch at an angle to the Beast's chair and the fire.

Adam regarded the couch, then regarded Lumiere. "Loveseat. Subtle."

Lumiere smiled gallantly, bowed with a great flourish, and retreated. Chip stayed because he wanted to see what would happen next, which turned out to be Cogsworth roaring "LINENS!" from down the hall. He swallowed, grabbed the pile of tablecloths, and ran for the dining room.

Adam rolled his eyes a bit, asked Mrs. Potts to bring some wine for everyone, and motioned for Maurice to take the chair. Maurice shook his head. "Oh, no, that's your chair."

"Given what happened last time you visited, it would ease my mind greatly if you did me the honor of taking that chair." Adam was quite earnest, and Maurice did notice that Belle was a little more hopeful of sharing the loveseat with Adam. Maurice smiled, nodded, and sat as Mrs. Potts arrived with wine and glasses and began to pour. Adam smiled at her. "And do be sure to take some for yourself as well, Potts, it's the least I could do after treating you so poorly for so long."

Mrs Potts was mildly shocked. "Oh now really, Master Adam, you don't need to I mean it's irregular and unnecessary to I really shouldn't but after all if you insist!" She filled the glasses merrily, as if she'd already had some, and flew off with the bottle in hand.

Adam, still standing, tentatively raised his glass to Belle and Maurice. "I really don't know what to say, except to give you my deepest gratitude for believing in me even when I gave you every reason not to." They all drank, and then Adam drank a little bit more and took a deep breath. "I guess a little explanation is in order."


	8. Chapter 8

It has been an eventful.. what? year? Sorry it has been so long between chapters. There are just a few more now. The story is traditional, the characters as borrowed here are the property of Disney, I am not making any money off this, more like therapy really, and I hope you all can have fun with this too. Enjoy.

Belle had put together a few facts about Adam's past from what she had seen, but speaking seemed such an effort to Adam that she tried not to interrupt.

"My father is... was... is, I hope... the Duc de Boisvert, but we lived in Lyon most of the time, just using the chateau for hunting and holidays. I am his only child, and I suppose that meant they spoiled me a bit, but not so much as to explain the way I treated them. I was... demanding, and rather short tempered. When I was sixteen I overheard a footman refer to me as Adam de Short Fuse, and I broke his nose for him. That's when I started being sent to the country more. After the Bastille fell, my parents sent me here permanently. They said I was safer here. Now I believe that they thought my drinking and fighting would endanger them all. I loved it here, Father and Mother hardly came, I had drinking companions from the village and estates, a staff waited on me, I lacked for nothing.

"I had a card party here about ten years ago, to celebrate my upcoming twenty-first birthday, and I hoped, my taking full possession of this estate. Three days of drinking and gaming. My fellows all left during a break in the weather, and when the sun went down the wind and my hangover started at about the same time. So I didn't have a lot of patience when an old beggar woman came looking for a place to sit out the storm." Adam swallowed. "She wasn't a beggar.

"My life, for all I knew, was changed forever. I'd go to the edge of the woods to try to make friends with children, but they ran away screaming. I'd look in on my parents with the mirror, hoping they would come find me, but they seemed to be on the run from some sort of trouble themselves. It was clear I was abandoned. After a few years I lost hope. I don't know why the staff didn't."

"Yes, of course," nodded Maurice. "But I'm sure your parents could not avoid it, especially since they were nobles. The Terror upended our lives as well."

Adam's eyes grew wide. "The Terror?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it got much worse after you became... confined here. The King and his family were killed. All nobles were suspect, as were all clergy and scholars. Nothing was thought of rounding up such people and lining them up to have their heads chopped off. I taught science at the University of Orleans AND at a seminary, so I had to pack Belle up and flee to the country to save our lives. We found the house and barn in Petite-Epingle-sur-Loire for very little money and have made a decent living building tools and raising chickens. But I do miss the teaching. No one seemed interested in schooling beyond some very basic reading and figures. Aside from Belle, of course!" Maurice and Belle exchanged smiles.

Adam sighed and buried his face in his hands. "I could not stand the sight of my parents doing manual labor, so I stopped looking in on them. I really should have been rejoicing at their still being alive!"

Belle put her hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps it is time to look in on them again."

Adam looked at Belle and at the mirror. He wondered if it would be better to do this alone, and then knew if he was alone he simply would not do it. He took her hand, and with his other hand he raised the mirror to his face. "Show me my parents."

A flash of color in the glass resolved to a narrow, rainy street in a city. A slightly stooped man in a thin coat, his white hair tied back with a measuring tape, opened a door and slowly ascended a stairway to a third-floor room. There a small, plainly dressed but meticulously groomed woman was sewing by the one window. "Welcome, Michel!"

Michel breathed in the cooking odors and smiled. "Goodness, Anne, what banquet awaits me?"

"The usual soup, but with a beef bone from the butcher. In exchange for some sewing." Anne was proud of the deal.

"Perfect, I am feeling quite celebratory. I have just received an order from the mayor's office to repair two carriages. In about three weeks, combined with what we have saved, I should have enough money to go back to the Loire and find Adam."

"Hopefully the weather won't turn you back this time." Anne smiled determinedly, but her eyes welled up. A sob broke through, and she wailed, "Oh, Michel, how do we even know Adam is alive? It's been ten years! The servants could have turned on him... finally... The revolution would have been the perfect excuse!"

Michel leapt to his wife's side and embraced her. "No, my dear, I know those people. Potts loved him like a son, even after she had one of her own to worry about, and his manservant Lumiere would never stoop to vengeance. I'm sure Adam is well. Perhaps he's outgrown some of his tantrums too. Just wait. We will meet him again, and he will be a fine young man." Anne's sobs subsided a bit as Michel held her in his arms. However, the worried look on Michel's face betrayed his confident tone.

"Enough!" Adam put the mirror down on his lap, trembling and gasping for air like he had been in a footrace. He swallowed. "My parents never abandoned me."

Belle shook out the hand that Adam gripped so hard while he watched the Duc and Duchesse. "And with the mirror, we can find out where they live and how to contact them."

Adam was pacing. "I must go to them! I want them to see me alive! I want them to see me changed! They must see the chateau! They must see my wed..." He stopped, knowing he was getting ahead of himself. He turned. "Belle." He thought for a moment, and decided the down-on-one-knee approach was probably more fitting than usual. He knelt and took her hand. "I am not sure even what sort of a life I can offer you. It may be an estate and servants and parties, or it may be a farm with a big decaying house. It seems presumptuous to ask you to marry me under these circumstances..."

Belle looked into Adam's eyes. "I'm not afraid of hard work, and I'm not averse to adventures. Presume!" She smiled broadly.

"Will you marry me..."

"Yes!"

Adam and Belle kissed.

"Splendid, splendid!" Maurice clapped his hands. They continued to kiss. "I think a toast is called for, this wine is quite excellent." They continued to kiss. "My lord, I'll pour if I know where the wine bottle is." They continued to kiss. "Ah... I think I will see if I can find Mrs Potts and that wine bottle. Don't go anywhere." He slipped out and they continued to kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

And what of Gaston, you ask?

&amp;&amp;&amp;&amp;

The moon rose as Gaston trotted back to the drawbridge. He looked down into the rock-strewn gully. "I wonder if this fortification has any weak spots." Although hungry, he was interested in trying out his newly-sharpened sight in the dark.

He stalked around the building and noticed the ground sloping down, until there was no dry moat, but a wall between him and the chateau. The wall gave way to a gate whose bars may have kept out a man, but not a flexible wolf. Inside he found himself on a road, with gardens and vineyards on either side, leading up to the chateau's courtyard. "That was too easy. How could I have missed this gate?" he wondered, but his second thought was that the gate and the road looked familiar for some reason.

The courtyard was surrounded on three sides by the chateau. No one was outside, and there seemed to be a party on the second floor. Gaston found a tall fountain somewhat near the open windows, and soon discovered that one thing a wolf cannot do very well is climb. His legs were the wrong length, and of course he had no thumbs. It took him four tries, but he eventually and awkwardly made it to the top of the fountain. There, with his forelegs comically around a stone angel's neck, sopping wet and hanging on for dear life, he could see into the room.

The long dining hall was packed with people, the table laden with food. At one end sat Belle and Maurice. Belle was being very friendly with some fellow with a big nose and brown hair. Is that who killed the beast? Was this his band? How did they vanquish the army of furniture? Gaston could hear nothing over the rush of water in the fountain. They were now standing and offering toasts to each other. It galled Gaston to see Belle laugh and embrace this fellow when he was offering to do the same thing.

The fellow glanced out the window and stopped. Gaston knew he had been seen, dropped into the pool of water below, and wished it was deeper when he landed. He raised only his eyes and snout out of the water to look at the man, who was now on the balcony studying the angel statue. One look at the man's eyes and Gaston knew it was the Beast. This was Adam to whom the Enchantress referred. He lived, and Belle was now his. Adam shrugged and returned to the feast. Gaston sat half hanging out of the fountain pool, sore, hungry, and miserable.

"Hey! Hey you! Get out! Move on! Get out!" Someone in the first floor kitchen had let a large shaggy dog out into the courtyard, and he sprinted to the fountain, barking all the way. Gaston didn't budge; he just sighed, let the dog get close enough, and pounced out of the fountain and bowled the dog over. The dog somersaulted and regained his footing and his barking: "Come on! Get out! Trespass! Get out!"

"I'm going, I'm going," said Gaston laconically. He shook the water off himself, making sure he soaked the dog in the process. "Just wondering if you had any leftovers from that party."

"None for you," growled the dog. "My job is to see the wild animals don't get in the trash heaps... Wait. Is that a rose on your leg?"

Gaston looked for vines tangled in his legs and realized the dog was talking about the mark on his flank. He turned and gave it a good look for the first time. It was indeed a stylized five-petaled rose, like you would see in a coat of arms. "That's the Enchantress's mark," said the dog in awe.

"You know the Enchantress?"

"Yeah, well, you won't believe this, but up til this afternoon I'd been a footstool for a really long time. Then our master and the pretty lady who came to visit him figured out how to break the enchantment. Not sure how, but it was a pretty close thing, we got attacked and almost missed our chance. How did you meet her?"

The dog was now wagging his tail at the meeting of a fellow enchanted creature. Gaston did not want to ruin a new acquaintance with his story, so he said, "I'm not really at liberty to talk about that."

"Of course! I get it! Enchantment and all!" The dog nudged Gaston in a friendly way. Gaston couldn't decide if his hunger or all the fawning was nauseating him. "Hey, stay here, I'll be right back." The dog ran back to the door and barked to be let in.

There was an odd pile of debris off to the right in an otherwise pristine courtyard. Gaston ambled over to it. It was a lot of light wood and a few metal parts, and some figurines of half-naked men and women. Just like the carousel his shooting instructor bought in Germany. In fact, it was the same carousel. Gaston realized he had after all been to this place before, to a card party thrown by a bratty young viscount who would give you free drinks if you complimented him enough. His teacher's presentation of the carousel was good enough for a bottle of wine from the estate. Gaston idly stirred the pieces of the carousel about with his paw, as pieces of past events began to fall into place and mesh together.

Two minutes later the dog jumped out the open kitchen window dragging a whole roasted goose by the neck. "Now, I can't get away with something like this every time," he grunted as he lay the goose at Gaston's feet, "but if you need something, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Enchantments aren't easy to deal with. I get that."

Gaston was at a loss for words. It took him a long time to come up with the word he needed, because he so rarely used it. "... Thanks." He dragged the goose out of the courtyard and round the building.


	10. Chapter 10

Bernache the old vintner smiled and hummed to himself as he sharpened his tools by candlelight in the wine cellar. Spring was here with a vengeance, and he had arms and legs to do the work he was born to do. Being a wine press for ten years had certain advantages at harvest time, as the grapes could go straight from vine to press as he tottered up and down the vineyard rows. But in winter it was inconvenient and in spring it was downright annoying to try to do the small, fine tasks that made the difference in the final product.

There was a knock at the door at the top of the stairs. Bernache knew who it would be and was pleased, but he walked to the door as deliberately as he did everything else. Adam and Belle were smiling as he opened the door to him. "Bernache, my good man! Why did you not join us for dinner?" Adam hoped it wasn't because he had made fun of Bernache's dirty canvas apron full of tools a dozen years ago, but the vintner's mind was so full of his vocation that it had no room for grudges.

"Well, you know, Master Adam, I never was one for large crowds and loud parties... it certainly sounded like all were enjoying themselves. And the truth is, when the weather turns like this, all I can think about is getting out among the vines, which I hope to do first thing in the morning."

"Oh, I wish you had come along," said Belle earnestly. "My father was very impressed with your wine, and all the others said that it was the best you had ever bottled."

"Of course, that would be the impression they would have after not being able to drink a drop for ten years." Bernache bowed at the compliment all the same.

"Well, I have," said Adam, "and I owe you ten years' worth of compliments. You are at the top of your form right now."

"Maybe that's not such a good thing." Bernache smirked a bit. "We have a bit of a backlog."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, sir, you have been the only wine drinker for a long time, and the vines have continued to produce, and I do hate to waste..." Bernache lit a torch with the candle and moved to a door. "Perhaps you ought to see this."

He opened the door to another wine cellar, one Adam had not known about. Adam and Belle saw the shelves of wine bottles on their sides, a dozen high on either side of the room. They stayed by the door as Bernache deliberately ambled along the room, getting further and further from them, yet still wine bottles lined the walls. "Does it end?" gasped Belle.

Bernache turned and smiled softly. "Oh yes, it only runs the length of this wing of the chateau. But I must say I was starting to worry, since we've only room for about a hundred new bottles now. Odd, though, how the bottles and corks never seemed to run out."

"The Enchantress's gift," said Adam. "But why? You can't live on wine. I think I tried to once, and it ended badly."

"Or can you?" Belle's remark got a shocked stare from Adam. "No, not drinking it, selling it! Adam, you said earlier that you might find yourself to be a farmer. What if you were running a vineyard?"

Adam's eyes grew wide. He turned to the old vintner, who had rejoined them. "Bernache, you may have saved us all! Would you be willing to take on a pupil in the art of growing wine?"

"That I would, Master Adam. Though we have all gotten a ten-year reprieve, I am still not getting younger, and the vines will need caring for a long time. But I should warn you it takes hard work... and patience."

Adam started sharply, "What does that-" and stopped when Belle kicked his leg. "I mean yes. That is something I need to work on. It will probably be a good exercise."

"We may need another wine cellar, though, unless we can find homes for some of this stock."

Belle saw an odd expression on Adam's face. She smiled as she realized he had some sort of idea and was thinking it through. She waited quietly. Bernache always waited quietly.

"Bernache, I wish to start in the morning to find the Duc and Duchesse and bring them home. May I take some of these bottles to try to do business with some merchants on the way? That will help pay for my trip."

"Take some bottles, well, let us see." Bernache walked a few paces back down the hall of the cellar, turned back, and opened his arms wide, lighting the seemingly endless vista of bottles. "I'll just need to see if I can spare a few." He smiled infrequenly and joked rarely, but now he was grinning from ear to ear.


	11. Chapter 11

As the sun rose, Gaston slid out through the bars of the chateau's front gate, turned back, and dragged two meaty roasted goose legs under the bars. He started up the hill along the wall and the dry moat. He looked for the wolfpack, although not very diligently, since he was carrying cooked meat and figured the wolves would eventually find him.

He had eaten well, slept a few hours, and had some time to think. The last activity was by far the hardest. Avoiding thinking only made the eventual moment of reckoning that much more painful. The short wolf reminded him entirely too much of LeFou. Was that the witch's plan, or an accident, or something more?

This time, despite the redolent meat in his mouth, he could smell the wolves approach. He trotted deliberately toward the scent, making sure the wolves saw him do so when they caught sight of him. He heard a gruff but quiet "Stop here" from the forms in the mist. Grizzle, no doubt. He continued to approach until Grizzle stepped forward, saying "Here's a bold pup, back for more!"

Gaston put the meat down in front of the line of wolves, but not in front of Grizzle. If Grizzle picked up on the challenge, he was not showing his hand. "From the kitchen of the Beast," proclaimed Gaston, "for the pack." No one moved.

"What's a kitchen?" asked Shorty, and the others hushed him nervously.

Gaston easily answered him before Grizzle could speak. "A room in his dwelling, where he keeps food and a fire."

Grizzle was incredulous. "And you could just wander into this room and pluck cooked food from it."

"There was an unguarded opening." This was correct. Gaston chose not to disclose that it was the estate's dog that procured the meat through the open window.

"Maybe he is as stupid as we think he is. What else you got?"

"The Beast has taken a mate." Gaston was surprised to see the pack almost as one step back, heads lowered, hackles raised, eyes wide.

"You mean..." choked out the brown wolf, "...that he has found another creature that is like him?"

Gaston only paused a second and firmly said, "Yes."

The speckled wolf began to shake a bit. "And you saw them?"

Gaston returned her gaze. "They were having a celebration with other members of their... pack. That may be why their guard was down."

All the wolves except Grizzle were now pacing and whining. "More than one beast!... How many?... What if they have cubs?... We're outnumbered!"

"QUIET!" roared Grizzle. He glared at Gaston. "How many are there?"

"Honestly I could not tell. At least ten."

Grizzle began to smile and slowly wag his tail, and Gaston's heart sank. "An easy number to divide and conquer. With the unguarded entrance to the Beast's den, we will have the element of surprise. We shall remove the nest of beasts from our forest!" He looked to his pack in triumph. They all looked at each other uneasily, and none could return his gaze.

"No."

Grizzle slowly turned to face Gaston. "What did you say, pup?"

"It is a battle you cannot win. You may succeed in killing a few of them, but the others learn quickly and will be on to your ways."

"Then we shall have killed a few of them!"

"At the cost of how many wolves? How many more wolves?"

"Your affection for our pack is touching," snarled Grizzle. "Or is it affection for the Beast that informs you?"

In truth, Gaston was trying to prevent harm from coming to Belle, but he realized he also did not want to punish the nobility of that annoying dog who helped him. "You wanted to know what I saw. I told you."

"Maybe we should listen to him, boss." The rest of the pack wheeled around and hushed Shorty loudly.

Grizzle wheeled round and stalked toward Shorty, teeth bared, growling, "You are more trouble than you are worth." Shorty cowered and Grizzle made for his throat, but was knocked to the side by Gaston charging him. The two rolled down the hill, found their legs, and began to circle each other.

"So it's my pack you want."

"That's the last thing I want. There was no need to take out that wolf."

"That is my decision. My decision to attack the Beast, my decision to cull the pack, my decision to punish upstart loners!"

The other wolves watched.

"You need to believe me; attacking the castle is a fool's errand."

Grizzle stopped and raised his head mockingly. "Ah, so you say I am a FOOL!" Gaston had let his guard down just a moment. When Grizzle snarled "FOOL" he lunged at Gaston. Gaston jumped aside, but not before Grizzle had grazed his shoulder. In a rage Gaston grabbed Grizzle's foreleg in his teeth. Grizzle managed to shred one of Gaston's ears before Gaston propped his head up under Grizzle's jaw. They fell and wrestled for an advantage, until Gaston finally felt a bone in Grizzle's leg snap between his teeth. He let go and Grizzle rolled clear and stood up. Grizzle bared his teeth and snarled, but his right foreleg was clearly useless, and there was a hint of fear in his eyes.

Gaston looked hard at Grizzle for a moment. Then he quietly said, "Get out." Grizzle was preparing to go down fighting and was completely dumbstruck by Gaston's order. "Get out NOW!" barked Gaston. Grizzle quickly limped off, bewildered.

After a long silence, Speckle quietly said, "What now, boss?"

Gaston sighed and turned to the expectant pack. "I meant it, really, I don't want to be your leader. I can't. I have- I have work to do." He looked along the valley after Grizzle. "Listen, there are a couple things. First, I need to hunt around here. I won't get in your way, but I have got to stay around here."

Speckle nodded cautiously. "You said 'a couple of things.'"

"Yes. Make sure your old boss gets some prey. He won't be able to hunt for a long time, if ever."

"He'd say that if you can't pull your weight you're on your own."

"Yeah, well, no matter what he said, he took care of you. It's your turn to take care of him. Pack members take care of each other. Everyone." Gaston looked deliberately at Shorty, who squirmed a bit.

Speckle looked at Shorty, too, and then back to Gaston. He bowed his head formally with a slight wag of the tail. Gaston returned the gesture and turned and trotted back toward the chateau.

The sun was up and he could hear a bustling in the courtyard, with many excited voices and the thumping of boxes or furniture being moved about. Then there was a quiet, emotional man's voice, answered by a great cheer and the thud of hooves.

Gaston ran along the wall and stopped suddenly at the corner as the gate burst open and a carriage pulled by two horses sped out, the driver merrily waving at the well-wishers behind him.

From behind the corner Gaston watched with a bit of surprise as the carriage reached the end of the pasture and did not turn right toward town, but straight ahead into the woods. This was not an enchanted wood, but it was known at Gaston's tavern as Heist and Poum's Wood, after two highwaymen who plied their trade there on unsuspecting travelers.

Gaston snorted contemptuously and turned back toward his woods. "And they're about to get another customer." Heist and Poum would occasionally regale his tavern with stories of their exploits, of property liberated from rich nobles, coins extracted from conceited businessmen, favors from pretty women...

Gaston's stomach dropped. He stopped in his tracks. Surely Belle would not be in that carriage. Where would she be going? No reason to go anywhere now, was there? ... was there?

He wheeled round and tore off down the road in the broad daylight after the carriage.


	12. Chapter 12

The stable hand was sure that after ten years of being overgrown with weeds, the gate would be difficult to move, but it sprang open at the slightest touch. The carriage raced through into the world, Lumiere gallantly waving back to the chateau from the driver's seat. Phillipe trotted with his head held high. He happily shared the harness with the annoying, overattentive sawhorse that yesterday transformed into a handsome Percheron mare.

Inside the carriage, Adam, Belle and Maurice animatedly discussed the types of questions the mirror needed to pinpoint the location of Adam's parents. Maurice and Belle were fitted in fine traveling clothes which Mme de la Grande Bouche had whipped together with amazing speed: "At the Opera we made costume alterations right up to the overture!" Beneath their seats, four dozen wine bottles in boxes clinked against each other as if toasting their endeavor.

"Are you sure it's Rouen we should be going to?"

"My dear boy, the Gros Horloge over the street is unmistakeable. A fascinating clock with a colorful history."

"So if we were to ask the mirror to show us your parents' flat, and then show us the building from above, and then show the clock from above, the streets might look like a map-"

The carriage lurched to one side and quickly came to a stop. Maurice in the front seat nearly fell into Belle and Adam's laps. "Oof! Pardon me... What do you suppose this is?"

Adam leaned out the window. "Lumiere! What's up?" And then he saw the guns.

The slim gunman, his head covered by a kerchief with holes cut for his eyes, calmly answered, "Your hands, if you please, citizen."

The burly gunman, wearing an odd hood that covered or shaded most of his face, waved his pistol nonchalantly away from the carriage. "May I ask you and your companions all to dismount for inspection."

Adam stepped slowly out of the carriage and helped Belle and Maurice while Lumiere carefully slid down from the driver's seat. All looked wide-eyed at the gunmen. But Adam and Lumiere stole a glance at each other, to be ready to react if need be.

"And now," said Heist, the slim gunman, "please throw all your gold, jewels, and cash before you, and we all can be on our way."

The four companions looked at each other uneasily. Lumiere cleared his throat. "Truth to tell, gentlemen, you have caught us at a time when we are a bit... cash poor."

"Cash poor," mused broad-shouldered Poum as he slowly walked toward Lumiere. "Then would you mind telling me..." He picked up Lumiere by the front of his shirt. "... what sort of assets you are currently rich in?"

"Wine?" squeaked Lumiere. Adam's eyes narrowed and he quietly growled.

Heist had gone into the carriage and came out with a bottle. "Hmph, he speaks the truth. Nothing in here but a few dozen bottles." He broke the neck of the bottle on the fender of the carriage, tilted back his head, and poured wine sloppily into his open mouth. "Not bad, but it makes for a pretty thin picnic." Adam clenched his fists and growled more audibly.

Poum dropped Lumiere. "Well then, what else might you have of value?" He strolled back and forth in front of the four and stopped and stared at Belle. Belle suddenly felt very ill but willed herself to stand tall.

"No." Maurice stepped forward. "No. We can find you something. The carriage, the horses..."

"Shut up, old man!" Poum shoved Maurice backwards and grabbed Belle in one motion. He stood with his big arm around Belle's neck and his pistol at her head. "My dear comrade," he said to Heist, who was already pointing two pistols at the others, "would you mind watching these gentlemen while the lady and I go off for a short time?"

"But of course," sneered Heist, "as long as you return me the favAAAAGHHH!"

Out of nowhere a large grey shape hurtled into Heist. He fell and one of the guns fired into the air as the horses neighed in surprise. Poum turned and Belle immediately kicked behind her as hard as she could, which quite sufficiently incapacitated Poum to allow her escape. Maurice and Lumiere leapt upon Heist, and Adam lunged at Poum. Belle found Heist's other gun on the ground, but she feared shooting Adam as he and Poum wrestled. Adam started to get the upper hand when Poum pulled a short dagger from a hip sheath. Belle yelled "Knife!" to warn Adam, but the grey creature that had knocked down Heist reappeared. It grabbed Poum's arm in its teeth and twisted it behind his back as he roared in pain. Adam grabbed Poum's dropped knife and jumped up, wondering if he owed it to Poum to protect him from the wolf's attack. But the wolf immediately loosed his grip and ran off into the brush.

Poum half sat up, panting, his right arm and his face bloodied. Heist sat next to him on the ground, his wrists bound with his face mask. Adam and Belle stood before them, confidently brandishing a dagger and a gun, respectively. "How in the hell did you do that?" gasped Heist. "You have a pack of dogs following you?"

Adam had absolutely no clue what had happened but he wasn't going to let that on to the robbers. "May I suggest that you would rather not find out. Now I would recommend that you be on your way... THAT way," he pointed in the opposite direction of their travel, "and quickly, before I call in more help." A bluff, but it worked. Heist and Poum, relieved of their weapons, staggered to their feet and limped quickly down the road.

As the four travelers watched the robbers recede into the morning mist, Lumiere very quietly said, "What just happened?"

Maurice shook his head. "I have no idea what those two did that set that wolf off. But I've never been so happy to see a wolf."

Belle sagged a bit, handed the gun gingerly to Lumiere, and put her arm around Adam's waist. "Let's be on our way. I think I'd like to chat with the mirror about our route to make sure there are no more surprises."

They regained their seats in the coach. Adam helped Maurice and Belle in. Belle laughed a bit shakily, trying to regain control of her emotions. "Honestly, I thought you were going to bite that fellow!"

"Old habits die hard." Adam smiled, he hoped reassuringly. "I told you I was a work in progress."

Just before he boarded, Adam glanced down the road behind them. There, about fifty yards away, was the wolf, standing in the road. His right ear was tattered and bloodied. On his right flank Adam could clearly make out a five-petaled heraldic rose. Adam and the wolf stared at each other for a moment. Then Adam bowed slightly and extended his arm in a courtly gesture. The wolf nodded, wagged his tail once, and disappeared once again into the woods.


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

Michel Saint-Lazare remarked slightly on the beautiful coach standing in his street, clearly out of place in this working-class neighborhood, but he had had enough of coach construction for the day. He was tired and ready for his supper. He pulled a key from his pocket and engaged the balky lock on his door. Hm, had Anna forgotten to lock it?

"Good evening, my lord."

"Good evening, Lumiere," said Michel distractedly as he entered the stairwell. In about two seconds he burst out the door again. "LUMIERE?" He ran to the carriage, where Lumiere leaned grinning against Philippe's broad shoulder. He grabbed Lumiere's hand and shook it affectionately but violenly. "It's you! You're here! How ever did you find us? Does the Duchesse know? Who's with you? Adam? What news of Adam? Good or bad? Must be good, you're smiling? Right?"

Lumiere continued to smile. "Your lordship should go up and see for yourself."

Michel took the steps two at a time and flung open the door to the flat. There he saw Adam and the others talking with Anna, who looked radiant if a bit tear-streaked. Adam nervously rose and began his prepared apology to his father, but didn't get far before Michel seized and embraced him and the happy tears flowed anew. Adam then told his story once more and demonstrated the mirror as proof of the tale's veracity.

Two weeks after their return to the Boisvert, Adam and Belle were married and hosted a grand wedding feast at the chateau. The townspeople were all invited and glad to see the family returned and the chateau opened up again. They all entered by the front gate; no one made any connection to the enchanted castle over whose back drawbridge they angrily marched a few weeks before. Indeed, they hadn't thought much about the chateau, as its walls on the field seemed perpetually covered in a mist rolling off the mountain until recently.

Gaston had not been heard from. People thought that the Beast had killed him, and they solemnly warned the Duc and Duchesse about the Beast. All were impressed with the family's practical bravery in face of the danger, and took heart from it.

Nothing was the same in France, except of course the French love of good wine, and the Boisvert label became sought after quickly. In order to manage the estate, Adam had to learn about work, which kept him out of trouble, mostly. Belle for her part learned to manage the accounts, her husband, and their four children gently but firmly. Maurice was free to work on his steam engines, and published and spoke all over the country on their applications, which he believed one day would be revolutionary.

Townspeople still kept their children in line with threats about a big, ugly, horned Beast roaming the woods looking for misbehaving children. However, it was noticed by several people that as long as a large, pale wolf with one ear and a mark like a flower on his hip was occasionally sighted, no child ever came to harm on their woodland rambles.


End file.
